Is an ‘all out war’ coming to a court room over the MorningStar tower in Fort Mill?
Rick Joyner wants answers on why MorningStar Fellowship Church can’t finish the tallest building in York County. It’s a Fort Mill tower that’s been at the center of legal battles for a decade.
“Many of our people, though, have passed away waiting to live in that building,” Joyner, president of MorningStar, told York County Council on Monday night. “Why? Why has this gone on for over 10 years, and now we have a whole new round that is obviously going to escalate?”
Joyner wants answers, but won’t wait long before pursuing yet more legal action.
“You need to make a quick decision and a quick dismissal, or it’s going to be all out war,” he said. “And if we have to do it, we will do it. But we will not go away.”
MorningStar tower
The 21-story tower now owned by MorningStar is a holdover from the Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and Heritage USA era. PTL, or Praise the Lord, was a hugely popular Christian theme park and resort in what now is the Regent Park area.
Construction began but never finished on the tower. It was the only PTL property left unfinished when Jim Bakker resigned in 1987 amid a sex and money scandal.
MorningStar, a separate Christian organization from the prior owners, bought properties in the area with plans for seniors living in the tower, a hotel and other features. The church has done work on 80 buildings valued at more than $15 million, including a 500,000-square-foot grand hotel. All that work, church leaders say, was done in line with county planning and development standards and approvals.
According to MorningStar, there are 180 reservations for the tower with deposits and a rental waiting list of almost 100 more people.
Yet the tower is different.
Various lawsuits have come up between the church and county on the tower. The county has argued MorningStar missed key deadlines, while the church has argued the county won’t let it obtain needed permits for work on the tower. There was a religious discrimination lawsuit against the county related to MorningStar’s inability to complete the tower.
“We’re being treated very differently than other developers,” Joyner said. “We need some explanation to that.”
A county spokesperson said Monday the county won’t comment on the tower issue as it’s part of ongoing litigation. York County Council Chairwoman Christi Cox echoed the same, in front of a packed room of MorningStar supporters.
“On advice of legal, county council does not comment on ongoing litigation matters,” Cox said.
New legal action
David Yarnes is president of Heritage Tower Community, and a MorningStar vice president. Heritage Community has more than 100 employees and 160 residents. It’s a senior residence similar to what is planned for the tower, 225-unit active senior apartments.
Yarnes thought his group was on the right track after lengthy legal issues. According to MorningStar, a mutual dismissal between the church and county in August 2020 ended more than a decade of litigation on the tower. MorningStar agreed to end three lawsuits.
“It benefited no one,” Yarnes said. “There was zero outcome after 10 years.”
MorningStar believed it could proceed with tower construction.
“We began to make significant expenditures after that,” Yarnes said.
MorningStar got a $75 million tax exempt bond, brought 60 subcontractors in for inspection and bidding and started with engineering and architectural documents.
Yarnes said MorningStar was blindsided in August 2021 when York County moved to reinstate lawsuits. In October Yandle met with county legal, building and planning officials. Yarnes said he didn’t hear back from the county except through legal filings.
“We have not been afforded common courtesy that you would give to other developers,” he said.
Just last month MorningStar challenged the latest legal filing, by York County to reinstate its prior cases.
Resident support
Dave Phelps told council he came from England 13 years ago to be part of MorningStar.
“It’s hard to believe that 13 years on, MorningStar is still battling the York County Council,” he said.
Residents in the new space will be net contributors financially and socially, he said.
Another man said he and his wife moved here more than a dozen years ago and are still waiting to move into the tower. Deborah Anthony moved here eight years ago from Houston.
“There are many others like me, who want to come,” Anthony said.
Now on MorningStar staff, Anthony said she’s had opportunities to live a fulfilling life with the church. She’s helped teach English to church partners in China.
“I get to do things that I love,” Anthony said. “It feels like I’m doing things that matter. I have a hope and a future.”
Kelly Balarie isn’t in the market to live in the tower, but sees wisdom, support and help from having seniors like those at Heritage now.
“It’s not a building that makes our community,” Balarie said. “It’s the people.”
Balarie said she understands concern about the tower, which MorningStar officials say can’t be aesthetically improved without county support.
“When I drive around Fort Mill and I see the tower, it looks like an eyesore to me,” Balarie said. “I get it.”
Sharrona Watson said her mother found love and compassion at MorningStar, something that could grow with a completed tower.
“This isn’t just a building,” Watson said. “This just isn’t a certain kind of senior living facility. This is a place that brings life, it brings hope and it brings love.”
Speakers Monday ranged from talk of religious or senior discrimination to a need for senior housing to prevent homelessness. Diana Scimone, who moved to Fort Mill almost five years ago from Orlando to be part of MorningStar, said York County has a strong history of fighting for and advancing justice.
“Please be the next hinge of history in our county,” she told council, “not an asterisk of history voting for injustice.”
With no specific decision related to the tower on its agenda Monday, council heard from MorningStar supporters only through a public comment period where council members don’t answer questions or respond.
“It’s an opportunity we provide for us to listen to you,” Cox said.
Tower construction
Joyner told Council he came in hopes both sides could avoid escalating litigation.
“We don’t want to go there,” he said. “We have no choice. We’re losing a lot by the day.”
Joyner said the tower was worth $15 million when MorningStar bought it and has increased in value. There have been x-rays and other studies to show the building is sound construction, he said.
“I’m going to be living in that building,” Joyner said. “I wouldn’t build something I wouldn’t be willing to live in.”
Among the options for MorningStar is further filings on a past legal case -- that the county stopping MorningStar from constructing the tower amounts to religious discrimination.
“We think we’ve got some evidence to that effect,” Joyner said.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 12:50 PM.
